BDUK Corporate Plan 2024 to 2025

Question 1

1. Foreword - Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Building Digital UK

Accepted Answer

At the start of 2024, the UK hit a major connectivity milestone, with over 80% of premises gaining access to a lightning-fast gigabit broadband connection. That figure grows by the month - the UK is currently building gigabit networks faster than any EU country - and it’s incredible to think that just five years ago gigabit coverage stood at just 6%. It demonstrates what can be achieved through great collaboration between the government and the telecoms industry.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) also reached a monumental milestone this year. Through various government-funded programmes, we have now delivered gigabit broadband to over one million homes, business and public sector buildings. From hamlets surrounding Land’s End in Cornwall to a Royal Air Force radar station in the northern isles of Shetland. All of these were previously suffering from slow and unreliable broadband, and have been transformed by improved connectivity.

In February, the Secretary of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Michelle Donelan, visited the beautiful Northumbrian town of Wooler to see first hand the positive impact gigabit connectivity has made to the local community. She met local residents who talked about their new ability to work from home without any buffering, and heard from small business owners who’ve seen new ventures thrive. There are similar stories in villages and towns across the country, but we know there are many places that we’ve yet to reach. It’s hard to underestimate the difference that digital connectivity makes, the opportunities it unlocks and the benefits it enables. Every community we reach only serves to underline how important it is that we deliver the government’s mission for nationwide gigabit coverage by 2030.

We have made great strides connecting many hard-to-reach parts of the UK, working with a dynamic range of suppliers of all sizes. Our programmes have helped to grow the rural economy, create jobs and ensure those in rural communities across the country can reap the rewards of lightning-fast connectivity. The rollout of Project Gigabit will now extend this further. We have put in place the building blocks for this future delivery: we have signed over £1 billion in contracts to connect a further 780,000 premises, and more are in the pipeline, covering all four corners of the UK. As Project Gigabit’s delivery gathers pace, we will see more premises connected, more communities benefiting and local economies growing.

But digital connectivity is not just about a fixed broadband connection. A reliable phone signal is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ in today’s world; it is essential for accessing work, services and opportunities.

In March 2024, we announced the first masts in Wales that have been activated thanks to government investment through the Shared Rural Network (SRN). Here, we are taking existing infrastructure, used to deliver the Emergency Services Network, and upgrading masts so that they provide 4G coverage to areas where previously it was impossible to get a signal.

More broadly, we are supporting the four mobile network operators to tackle so-called ‘not spots’ - areas with little or no 4G mobile coverage - which can frustrate and hinder people’s opportunities to connect on-the-go from some of the UK’s most remote regions. Since the Shared Rural Network was signed in 2020, parts of the country totalling over 2,000 square miles – equivalent in size to the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire combined – that were previously without 4G are now covered by at least one operator. Also, areas totalling almost 5,000 square miles of ‘not spots’ - or 60% the size of Wales - now have coverage from all four operators. This improved connectivity enables people to work on the move, it opens up new opportunities for innovation and tech in farming, helps tackle rural crime, and makes it easier for first responders to reach people in need of assistance through enabling 4G to facilitate 999 calls for the first time.

In Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are driving forward two game-changing programmes that will supercharge the UK’s digital infrastructure. As we look ahead to next year, we can expect the delivery of our programmes to ramp up. Connecting increasingly harder to reach communities will present new and complex challenges. We will need to harness all the talent and expertise that exists across the teams that make up BDUK.

Most importantly, to write this next chapter of connectivity - not just today but for decades to come - we will need to continue to work collaboratively with our partners, local councils, devolved administrations and the private sector. Our shared motivation, to transform people’s lives through better connectivity, will drive us forward and we look forward to continued success in the next 12 months.

Dean Creamer CBE

BDUK Chief Executive Officer

Simon P. Blagden CBE

BDUK Chair

“In Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are driving forward two game-changing programmes that will supercharge the UK’s digital infrastructure.”

Question 2

2. Who we are

Accepted Answer

BDUK is an executive agency of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), with a mission to ensure that homes and businesses across the UK can access fast and reliable digital connectivity.

We are a specialist delivery agency responsible for the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband and the expansion of mobile coverage through two flagship programmes: Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network. Delivering our mission is a team effort across government, industry, local councils, devolved administrations, regulators, consumer groups and citizens, and we work with these partners to ensure that people can access the reliable digital connectivity that can transform their lives. The fast, reliable connections delivered by our programmes will:

Create and support thousands of high-paid, high-skilled jobs. The digital connectivity we are delivering will give people greater flexibility to work from any location, increasing employment opportunities in rural and remote locations, and promoting greater digital innovation.
Provide people with greater access to online services. People from remote areas will have access to more services including remote GP appointments, training and local government services.
Enhance people’s home life. Improved digital infrastructure will enable the use of more internet-connected smart appliances, higher quality streaming, and faster and more reliable connectivity.
Enable more people to stay connected on-the-go. Improved mobile coverage allows people to use digital maps, stream content and make calls when moving through remote locations throughout the country.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is both the Accounting Officer and the Senior Responsible Owner for our programmes. The CEO is held to account by the Secretary of State, Minister of State, and DSIT’s Principal Accounting Officer. The CEO is also advised and challenged on strategy, delivery and risk management by BDUK’s Board.

To achieve our goals, our work is underpinned by four core values: Embracing Challenges, Delivering Excellence, Working Together and Respecting Differences.

We published our multi-year Corporate Plan 2023 to 2026 in July 2023. It sets out in detail who we are, what we do and our objectives spanning the three year period to March 2026. Please refer to the Corporate Plan 2023 to 2026 for further detail describing our activities. This Corporate Plan 2024 to 2025 avoids reproducing this information. It acts as a companion document that focuses on our objectives in the year ending 31 March 2025 and highlights notable developments since the last plan was published.

Question 3

3. Delivering our mission: Project Gigabit

Accepted Answer

Project Gigabit is a £5 billion programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses across the UK that would otherwise not get connected through suppliers’ commercial rollout plans. The programme will support the government’s target to ensure nationwide gigabit-capable broadband by 2030, making sure that people have the same access to fast and reliable connectivity wherever they live, work and study.

Project Gigabit was launched in March 2021, building on successful previous programmes including the Superfast and Rural Gigabit Connectivity programmes.

As a result of significant commercial and subsidised delivery, over 81% of UK homes and businesses can now access a gigabit-capable broadband connection ^{[footnote 1]}. This is up from just 6% in early 2019, and demonstrates the strong progress made towards the government’s target of at least 85% coverage by the end of 2025, and then to nationwide gigabit-capable broadband by 2030.

3.1 Our interventions

Project Gigabit has four interventions, each designed to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to premises outside of suppliers’ commercial build plans.

Delivery in detail: Project Gigabit’s four interventions

Gigabit contracts - contracts with suppliers to extend their plans to build gigabit-capable infrastructure to premises that will not be reached by their commercial plans alone. This support ranges from smaller local contracts (aimed at reaching up to 15,000 premises), to larger regional contracts (up to 100,000 premises) and cross-regional contracts (up to 500,000 premises).
Superfast contracts - projects under the Superfast Broadband Programme that have been reconfigured to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity. Extra funding from Project Gigabit is being used to extend existing contracts to deliver additional gigabit infrastructure.
Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme - vouchers worth up to £4,500 for both residential and commercial premises, which can be claimed by anyone in eligible rural areas to cover the costs of a supplier extending their network to their premises.
GigaHubs - grants to connect vital local public services, typically schools, libraries and GP surgeries, in hard-to-reach areas. We are not actively developing new projects given the coverage now being provided through other mechanisms.

3.2 Our progress so far

In February 2024, we announced that the government had subsidised gigabit-capable connectivity to more than one million premises. ^{[footnote 2]} The majority of these, totalling 746,500 premises, were given access to gigabit-capable broadband through the Superfast programme. Voucher projects contributed 250,800 premises, with a few also getting a connection as a result of our GigaHubs projects and first Gigabit contracts delivery. ^{[footnote 3]}

In our Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023 we reported that in total 79% of our delivery has been directed at sub-superfast premises. As over 97% of homes and businesses have access to superfast speeds, this means that we are overwhelmingly targeting premises with some of the slowest connections in the country.

Last year our Gigabit contracts began delivery in earnest. Over £1.3 billion has been committed in signed contracts, which will deliver fast, reliable broadband to up to 780,000 homes and businesses that would otherwise be left behind. ^{[footnote 4]} These contracts form the cornerstone of our interventions to reach premises that will not gain coverage through commercial delivery alone.

3.3 Delivery in detail: Collaborating with suppliers

Our relationship with suppliers is critical to the success of Project Gigabit. The commercial market has planned nearly £44 billion of investment into UK full fibre by 2030. ^{[footnote 5]} Suppliers’ commercial rollout has reached significantly more premises than expected, and combined with subsidised build, over 81% of homes and businesses already have access to a gigabit-capable connection. ^{[footnote 6]} Our commitment of £5 billion over the life of the programme will help enable them to deliver even further and faster.

Gigabit-capable premises passed by supplier ^{[footnote 7]}

BDUK provides the subsidies, but it is the suppliers who are responsible for building the network. These suppliers are making good progress. For example, in December 2023, GoFibre announced the completion of their first phase of build under our £7.3m North Northumberland contract, bringing gigabit-capable coverage to over 1,100 hard-to-reach homes and businesses.

What our suppliers say:

“Our strong relationship with BDUK allows us to work together to solve problems, improve processes and, ultimately, deliver world-class connectivity to as many hard-to-reach communities as possible. BDUK’s open and transparent approach has helped to develop trust and integrated working practices between our teams. We look forward to working closely together over the years to come, to ensure the country’s digital infrastructure is fit for the data age.”

Greg Mesch

Chief Executive Officer, CityFibre

“Gigaclear has worked with BDUK continuously since 2015 and we have developed a valuable and productive relationship through our engagements with their programmes. Gigaclear and BDUK are both aligned on the need to maximise gigabit coverage in underserved rural areas.”

Nathan Rundle

Chief Executive Officer, Gigaclear Ltd

“Lothian Broadband Networks has been working with BDUK for over two years, identifying suitable Gigabit Voucher projects throughout Scotland. BDUK’s positive, proactive engagement has allowed us to provide tens of thousands of homes with access to a gigabit-capable network in some of the most underserved areas of the UK. Prior to our network rollout in the Highlands only 0.14% of homes within the project area had access to a gigabit-capable network; now nearly 20,000 homes in this area have access to an 10Gbs FTTP fibre network. With BDUK’s support we can continue to close the digital divide throughout many more areas of rural Scotland.”

Gavin Rodgers

Chief Executive Officer, Lothian Broadband Networks

In March 2023, the National Infrastructure Commission published a progress review providing the government with impartial, expert advice on major long term infrastructure challenges.^{[footnote 8]} The review noted that the government continues to make good progress on supporting deployment of new digital infrastructure networks and delivery of full fibre and gigabit-capable broadband is progressing rapidly. Significantly, if suppliers deliver on their published plans, and the government maintains the £5 billion subsidy programme for underserved areas, the government will likely achieve its target to deliver nationwide coverage by 2030. The commission’s most recent assessment report, published in October 2023, continued to highlight the importance of gigabit-capable and mobile infrastructure in improving the UK’s economy.^{[footnote 9]}

3.4 Our future progress

With the vast majority of our procurements launched and many areas under contract, we are now focused on ensuring that suppliers deliver the connectivity required. We also continue to review the plans for each region to extend contract coverage where we can, or to re-open the voucher scheme in local areas. We expect to sign the cross-regional contract framework early this year and will undertake further call-off procurements to cover remaining areas that have not been covered through other procurement options.

The digital infrastructure market remains dynamic, affected by the same macroeconomic headwinds as found across other infrastructure sectors. We are also mindful of further sector-specific risks where fragmentation in the market and overbuild in the network may lead to lower take-up by consumers. We are continuing to monitor commercial coverage plans and will respond wherever possible to fill gaps in coverage in areas where there is retrenchment. We are prepared to respond in any instances of supplier financial distress events and, alongside DSIT, we have prepared for a range of possibilities. We will continue to work closely with our partners across government, Ofcom and industry to put ourselves in the best position to deliver on our shared, ambitious objectives.

A small number of premises are outside the scope of Project Gigabit, due to the difficulty in suppliers reaching them with gigabit-capable connectivity while maintaining good value for money. The government consulted on improving broadband for Very Hard to Reach premises at the end of 2023 and is considering responses.

3.5 Supporting the government’s coverage targets

We have made significant progress, already reaching 81% coverage by March 2024. Government intervention has stimulated competition in the market and commercial build has gone faster and further than expected. While the government still expects the UK to reach 85% gigabit capability by December 2025, some independent analysis suggests we may achieve this target earlier.^{[footnote 10]} As a result of the increased commercial coverage, there are fewer premises which require public subsidy and those that do are generally harder to reach – which has a direct impact on Project Gigabit.

Our target trajectory below supports achievement of 85% gigabit coverage by 2025, a critical milestone on the path towards nationwide coverage by 2030. Our Gigabit contracts and voucher projects provide the building blocks for completing this delivery. The target trajectory has been updated to account for this improved commercial coverage and other factors affecting delivery. These include delays in contract signing and mobilisation, as well as more premises being placed into our cross-regional framework which is currently in procurement.

The target trajectory also takes into account some of the risks now facing every major infrastructure project, brought on from a challenging economic environment for our suppliers. These include the increased cost of capital, reduced availability of commercial funding, and inflationary pressures, all of which may increase the risks of delivery in non-commercial areas, even with government subsidy. To reflect this increased uncertainty, the target trajectory is presented as a range representing the potential scale of impacts on our future delivery.

The trajectory below shows that BDUK expects to have passed between 1.1 and 1.2 million premises by the end of March 2025, with overall gigabit-capable coverage likely meeting the government’s 85% interim target by then.

Table 1: Updated target trajectory

	Up to March 2023	By March 2024	By March 2025	By December 2025
Cumulative premises passed by BDUK interventions	935,000	1,000,000 to 1,050,000	1,100,000 to 1,200,000	1,340,000 to 1,560,000
Total per cent premises passed (includes both commercial and subsidised delivery)	75%	81%	85%	85%+

Notes:

The target trajectory shows the number of premises BDUK estimates it will need to pass with its subsidies in alignment with the government’s 85% gigabit-capable target. It is not an official forecast.
The cumulative premises passed figure up to March 2023 has been updated from our previous Corporate Plan to reflect actual delivery.
Total per cent premises passed (includes both commercial and subsidised delivery): This is the total percentage of UK premises that must be passed by our own interventions and the wider market’s commercial plans to meet the government’s 85% coverage target.

Question 4

4. Delivering our mission: Shared Rural Network

Accepted Answer

The Shared Rural Network programme will level up mobile coverage in rural areas across the UK through a £1 billion deal with the four mobile network operators (MNOs) - EE, Three, VMO2 and Vodafone - delivering 4G coverage to some of the hardest to reach parts of the country. It will tackle the digital divide between urban and rural areas, supports economic growth and contributes to public safety, bringing improved 4G connectivity over a wider area to first responders and facilitating 999 calls for the first time. The programme also has specific coverage targets for an extra 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads.

This programme will see MNOs collectively increase 4G mobile phone coverage throughout the UK, so 95% of the UK geography will have coverage from at least one mobile network operator by the end of 2025, and further coverage improvements in more hard-to-reach areas will continue to be delivered until the start of 2027. The programme will lead to increases in coverage across all four nations, with the biggest coverage improvements in rural parts of Scotland, which currently has the lowest 4G coverage of any of the four Nations.

All the work undertaken by the MNOs as part of the programme is regulated by Ofcom, with regular reporting throughout its life to ensure agreed obligations and targets are met.

The below outlines the key phases in the delivery of the programme.

Delivery in detail: the SRN rollout phases

The programme is delivered in two parts:

Phase one - The four MNOs are collectively investing over £532 million in a shared network of new and existing phone masts. This will help tackle Partial Not Spots, which are areas where there is currently coverage from at least one, but not all, mobile operators. The MNOs have a target in their licence obligations to complete this element of the programme by June 2024.
Phase two - The government is investing over £500 million to go even further to significantly reduce Total Not Spots, which are areas where there is currently no coverage from any mobile operator. As part of this government-funded element of the programme, there will be upgrades to Extended Area Service masts being built as part of the Home Office’s Emergency Services Network.^{[footnote 11]} This will make these masts usable by the four MNOs. This element of the programme is to be completed by January 2027 to meet licence obligations.

4.1 Our progress so far

We have worked with our partners to improve 4G coverage in rural areas throughout the country. 4G coverage across the UK has now reached 93%, an increase from 91% in March 2020 when the SRN agreement was signed.^{[footnote 12]}

Progress on the Total Not Spots element of the programme has been focussed on site surveying, site applications and planning - laying the groundwork for future build of masts on suitable sites. Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited (DMSL) coordinates the Total Not Spots element on behalf of the MNOs and continues to advance the required procurements which will underpin this.^{[footnote 13]} The process of enabling sharing of the Home Office Emergency Services Network’s Extended Area Service (EAS) masts is also progressing. The first fully activated 4G government funded site in Lockerbie went live in April 2023. In March 2024, we announced the first site in rural Wales in Powys County going live, with further masts set to be switched on in the coming months. We are committed to supporting our delivery partners to acquire and activate more sites in the year ahead, and to pay the MNOs’ grant funding claims efficiently to maximise delivery success. These steps will help provide the coverage that the programme aims to provide to residents and visitors in hard-to-reach rural areas.

In February 2024, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on supporting mobile connectivity; we acknowledge its findings and will continue to work with mobile network operators to ensure the programme is delivered on time and that the crucial coverage improvements are delivered across rural parts of the country.^{[footnote 14]}

4.2 Our future progress

We will continue to support our delivery partners to move further into the acquisition and build of masts, setting out specific targets in our objectives for 2024 to 2025, designed to maintain momentum towards January 2027 licence obligations at the end of the programme. We will continue to work with our partners to achieve this. Areas we will focus on include:

Improving the data we receive from MNOs, DMSL and the Home Office to ensure effective oversight of the programme and decision-making to deliver successful outcomes
Looking further into the potential outcomes and benefits of our coverage improvements in the most remote areas we are targeting, to support our delivery partners and help them assess the most appropriate solutions
Implementing our evaluation plan to track the benefits to consumers where we have delivered improved coverage
Collaborating with DSIT on their Wireless Infrastructure Strategy and supporting the relationship with Ofcom to improve 4G data reliability

We expect to face challenges in the coming year and will work closely with our partners to address them. There are wider macroeconomic, resource and financial challenges, and the market remains dynamic, with changes to inflation, interest rates, supply and labour costs causing uncertainty for organisations. The key practical challenge remains delivering value for money site solutions in very rural and hard-to-reach areas.

In October 2023 several of the mobile network operators informed us of challenges in hitting their individual June 2024 licence obligations.^{[footnote 15]} We will continue to work closely with the mobile network operators to support delivery against the targets and outcomes of the Shared Rural Network programme. Based on our analysis of delivery forecasts we are confident that the programme will achieve the government’s target of 95% UK landmass coverage by at least one operator by December 2025.

There have been understandable concerns raised by local communities about the potential impact of new infrastructure built in remote and sensitive areas. We will continue to strike a balance between extending 4G coverage to maximise all the benefits it can provide, in a way that protects these landscapes. We will also continue to promote reuse of as many existing masts as possible to keep to a minimum the number of new masts carefully placed to achieve maximum coverage to minimise environmental impacts.

Question 5

5. Objectives for 2024 to 2025

Accepted Answer

We have a clear focus in delivering our two flagship programmes: Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network. To succeed, we must work effectively with our partners and ensure our organisation has the right supporting operations in place.

In our Corporate Plan 2023 to 2026 we set our three-year objectives for what we want to achieve by March 2026. We will report against the specific sub-objectives set out for 2023 to 2024 in our next Annual Report and Accounts to be published later in 2024.

The following objectives for the year 2024 to 2025 set out how we are delivering against our strategy through specific measures and milestones. As we enter new delivery phases of our programmes and we mature as an organisation, we have set out the most relevant objectives for the year ahead, some of which are adapted from the previous year and others are newly introduced.

5.1 Project Gigabit objectives

Overall objective to March 2026

1. Deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to homes and businesses outside suppliers’ commercial rollout plans

We will deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to premises across the UK in hard-to-reach areas, supporting the government’s target of at least 85% connectivity by 2025 through a combination of suppliers’ commercial build and subsidised build, and then to nationwide gigabit-capable broadband by 2030.